Glenpark XI gain first league victory

The sun shone on Glenpark the place and Glenpark the team this weekend as the Glenpark XI secured their first league win of the season.

Things got off to a shaky start with the home team being asked to field first with only nine players. This meant that, with the fielding restrictions, there were only five outfielders. On a perfect batting strip the Bothwell top order found the gaps with ease. The first drinks were at 17 overs and the score had raced to 108-1. After the break things changed dramatically. Kieran Begley removed danger man Tariq, opening the door for Mark Robertson to work his magic. The visitors had no answer as they perished in a flurry of wickets to the spinner, though admittedly it wasn’t always his best balls that proved successful! When Reiss Armstrong bowled their last batsmen the innings closed on 187 – definitely below par for the excellent batting track and lightening outfield. A much more disciplined fielding performance kept the score low with only 13 extras, skipper Kevin Flack impressively not letting any byes through. Special mention also goes to Tom Forrest who gamely volunteered to field for our missing player, and spent a lot of the innings running from third man to fine leg! Mark finished with a six-wicket haul.

In response openers Mark and Kevin also started well. Never looking in trouble as they saw the partnership through to the first drinks break. Again the refreshments seemed to rejuvenate the fielding team as they reduced Glenpark from 69 without loss to 94-5. Then came a match winning partnership of 59 between Reiss and Jack Bushfield, the former playing the role of run-getter with the latter’s support. Unfortunately Reiss suffered an injury and lost his wicket soon after, falling just short of a deserved half-century. It was then left to Niall Forrest and Dave Sharma to knock of the last few runs without incident to complete the win.

Scooby Award: Initially awarded to Kieran Begley for asking if he should relieve one of the appointed umpires but, since he was going home and would not be sporting the attire in the bar, subsequently awarded to Aidan Forrest – for asking how long a 50 over match was! (OK, he may not have asked those exact words, but it was still a dumb question).